Work-clamping means for lasting machines



ec. 31, 1940. w. T. B. ROBERTS WORK-CLAMPING MEANS FOR LASTING MACHINES Original Filed Feb. 24, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec.- 31, 1940. w B R B 2,226,780

'WORK-CLAMPING MEANS FOR LASTING MACHINES @QM WIWKMZ- Patented Dec. 31, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WOBK-CLAMPING MEANsroa as'rmc MACHINES William Thomas Buckingham Roberts, Leicester, England, assignor to United- Shoe Machinery Corporation, Borough ofgFlemington, N. J., a

' corporation of. New Jersey Original application February 24, 1939, Serial No.

258,254. Divided and this application August 8, 1939. Serial No. 289,004f. Iii-Great Britain May 2, 1938 I p 11 Claims. (o1.12 14.1)

148, granted on October 25, 1938 upon an application of mine, but' modified in certain respects as further disclosed in Letters Patent No. 2,140,- 652, granted on December 20, 1938 upon another application of mine. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to machines of that particular character.

Machines such as disclosed in the above mentioned Letters Patent are provided with wipers which wipe the upper around the toe end of the last first heightwise of the last and then inwardly over an insole on the bottom. of the last and with a flexible band which clamps the upper against the last around the toe end thereof to assist in conforming the upper tightly and smoothly to the contour of the last. As disclosed in Letters Patent No. 2,140,652 the band is applied in clamping relation to the. upper substantially at the time when the wipers begin to wipe the margin of the upper inwardly over the insole, the ends of the band being connected to devices which are moved lengthwise of the last thus to apply the bandto the upper. Further to insure against the formation of any objectionable wrinkles in the upper at the sides of the toe, and also to aiiord better insurance against any lateral displacement of the toe end of the last as the wipers wipe the margin. of the upper inwardly over the insole, whatever may be the character of the upper materials, the present invention provides novel means for clamping the band against the. upper at the sides of the toe. For the purposes in view, the con struction herein shown, comprises. clamp memhere which are movable inwardly against the band at thesides of the toeby the operation of the devices whichact as above described; on the ends of the band to apply it to the upper, the construction being further such that theseclamp members after being moved into their clamping positions are held positively against reverse movements. Accordingly these members serve to press the upper. more firmly against thelastat the sides of the toe and also to hold the toe end of the last; against lateral: displacement.

While such clamping means is herein illustrated as operating atthe toe end of a shoe, it is to be understood-that the invention in some of its aspects is not limited to toe-clamping means as distinguished from means operating at the heel 5 end. 1

The novel features of the invention, including various novel details of construction and combinations of parts, will now be more particularly described with-reference to the accompanying drawings and thereafter pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a view mainly in right-hand-side elevation of a portion of' a machine of the character disclosed in the above-mentioned Letters Patent with the present invention embodied therein;

Fig. 2 is a view partly in front elevation and partly in section of a portion of the structura shown in Fig. l; and

Fig. 3 is a plan view'of the flexible toe band and a portion of the means for applying it to the upper and for clamping it against the upper.

In view of the disclosures in the above-mentioned Letters Patent onlysuch parts of the machine as it is necessary to refer to for an understanding of the present invehtion will be hereinafter .described. The machine is provided with wipers 2 which embrace the upper around the toe end of the last' and wipe it first heightwise of the last, after which they wipe its marginal portion inwardly over an insole on the last into position to be fastened to the insole, the last and shoe being held during the toe-lasting operation between a toe rest 4 and an insoleengaging member 6. The wipers 2 are supported by vertically movable castings 8 connected together by a bridge piece HI (Figs. 1 and 2). Mounted to move upwardly and downwardly with the wiper-supporting castings 8 and the wipers is a flexible band [2 preferably made of thin steel and. arranged to clamp the upper against the last around the toe end thereof to. in conforming the upper tightly and 134,148 and are movable forwardly lengthwise of the last to draw the band about the toe end of the upper.

To afford better insurance against the formation of any objectionable wrinkles in the upper along the sides of the toe, and also against any lateral displacement of the toe end of the last and shoe as the wipers wipe the margin of the upper inwardly over the insole, the present invention further provides means for clamping the hand against the upper at the sides of the toe. This means comprises a pair of clamp members or blocks I6 arranged respectively at the opposite sides of the toe. For supporting these blocks and their operating mechanisms each of the two wiper-supporting castings 8 .has a forwardly extending vertical web I8 on which is supported, on a pivot pin 20, a bell-crank lever 22 having an upwardly extending arm 24. The upper ends of the two arms 24 are rounded and lie in lateral recesses provided in members 26 secured on the front ends of the rods I4. It will therefore be evident that in response to forward movements of the rods I4 to apply the toe band to the upper the upwardly extending arms 24 of the bell-crank levers 22 are swung in forward directions. These levers also have downwardly and rearwardly extending arms 28 each of which has pivotally connected to its rear end a downwardly extending yoke member 30 provided at its upper and lower ends with bearings for a rod 32. A spring 34 on each rod 32 rests at its lower end against the lower bearing portion of the yoke member 30 and at its upper end engages a collar 36 which is threaded on the rod and is slidingly movable with the rod in the upper bearing portion of the yoke member, so that the lifting of the yoke member which results from the swinging of the bellcrank lever 22 in the manner above described causes the rod 32 to be moved yieldingly upward.

The lower end of each rod32 is pivotally connected to the front end of a short rearwardly extending lever 38 pivotally supported midway between its opposite ends on a link 40 which is pivotally suspended on a pin 42 on the web I8. The rear ends of the levers 38 are bifurcated and carry pins 44 which extend through twisted cam slots 46 formed in the lower ends of vertical rods 48, these rods being rotatably mounted in lugs on the wiper-supporting castings 8 and being so confined as to prevent them from moving upward or downward relatively to these castings. Each of the rods 48 has fast on its upper end an arm 56 a portion of which extends rearwardly and carries one of the previously mentioned clamping blocks I6, the block being mounted to turn on a vertical stud 52 on the arm. Each of the blocks I6 extends upward substantially to the level of the top of the band I2 and has a band-engaging face which is somewhat concave lengthwise of the edge of the shoe bottom. Initially the blocks I6 are spaced well away from the band, as illustrated in Fig. 3, but as the band is applied to the shoe by the forward movements of the rods I4 the downward movements of the pins 44 in the cam slots 46 cause the rods 48 to turn in directions to swing the blocks into clamping engagement with the band. It will be evident that the springs 34 are yieldable to permit continued movements of the rods I4 after the blocks I6 have arrived in clamping engagement with the band, so that the band will be properly applied to the shoe and clamped by the'blocks regardless of the width of the toe end ofthe shoe. The blocks, moreover, are positively held 38 to impart upward movements to the pins 44 and thus to swing the blocks I6 outwardly away from the band. It will be evident that by the action of these blocks not only is the upper clamped firmly against the last at the sides of the toe near the end thereof to assist in preventing the formation of wrinkles during the action of the wipers on the margin of the upper, but the toe end of the last and shoe also is held positively against any lateral displacement such as might be detrimental to the proper wiping of the upper inwardly over the insole at both sides of the toe and the fastening thereof in lasted position.

Having described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a lasting machine, a flexible band for embracing and clamping an upper about an end of a last, devices connected respectively to the opposite ends of said, band and movable lengthwise of the last to draw the band about the.

upper, members supported independently of the band for clamping the band against the upper at theopposite sides of the last, and means for moving said members widthw-ise of the last toward the band into clamping engagement with the band by the movements of said devices lengthwise of the last.

2. In a lasting machine, a flexible band for embracing and clamping an upper about an end of a last, devices connected respectively to the opposite ends of said band and movable lengthwise of the last to draw the band about the upper, bell-crank levers associated respectively with said devices and arranged to be operated by the movements of said devices lengthwise of the last,

members for clamping the band against the upper at the opposite sides of the last, and means for moving said members widthwise of the last into their clamping positions by the movements of said bell-crank levers.

3. In a. lasting machine, a flexible band for embracing and clamping an upper about an end of a last, devices connected respectively to the opposite ends of said band and movable lengthw-ise of the last to draw the band about the upper, members for clamping the band against the upper at the opposite sides of the last, arms supporting said members and mounted for swinging movements widthwise of the last toward the band to apply said members in clamping relation to.

the band, and means for operating said arms by the movements of said'devices lengthwise of the last. I

4. In a lasting machine, a flexible band for embracing and clamping an upper about an end a;-

last, members for clamping the-band against the upper at the opposite sides of the last, arms supporting said members and mounted for swinging movements widthwise of the last to apply said all members in clam-ping relation to the band, and yieldable connections between said bell-crank levers and arms for operating the arms by the movements of the bell-crank levers.

5. In a lasting machine, a flexible band for embracing and clamping an upper about an end of a last, devices connected respectively to the opposite ends of said band and movable lengthwise of the last to draw the band about the upper, members for clamping the hand against the upper at the opposite sides of the last, rods mounted for turning movements to apply said members in clamping relation to the band, said rods having cam slots therein, and members operated by said devices for turning said rods by engaging them in said cam slots.

6. In a lasting machine, a flexible band for embracing and clamping an upper about an end of a last, devices connected respectively to the opposite ends of said band and movable lengthwise of the last to draw the band about the upper, members for clamping the band against the upper at the opposite sides of the last, arms supporting said members, rods arranged to extend heightwise of the last and mounted for turning movements to swing said arms in directions to apply the clamping members in clamping relation to the band, said rods having cam slots therein, and levers operated by said devices and having pins for turning said rods by engaging them in said cam slots.

7. In a lasting machine, a flexible band for embracing and clamping an upper about an end of .a last, devices connected respectively to the opposite ends of said band and movable lengthwise of the last to draw the band about the upper, arms mounted for swinging movements heightwise of the last, means for thus swinging said arms by the movements of said devices lengthwise of the last, members for clamping the band .against the upper at the opposite sides of the last, and means for moving said members widthwise of the last into their clamping positions by the swinging of said arms heightwise of the last.

8. In a lasting machine, a flexible band for embracing and clamping an upper about an end of a last, devices connected respectively to the opposite ends of said band and movable lengthwise of the last to draw the band about the upper, arms mounted for swinging movements heightwise of the last, means for thus swinging said arms by the movements of said devices lengthwise of the last, members for clamping the band against the upper at the opposite sides of the last, said members being mounted for swinging movements into their clamping positions about axes extendin heightwise of the last, and means for thus swinging said members by the swinging of said ,arms heightwise of the last.

9. In a lasting machine, the combination with a flexible band for embracing and clamping an upper about an end of a last, of members for clamping said hand against the upper at the opposite sides of the last, said members being mounted for swinging movements into their clamping positions about axes extending heightwise of the last, operating members movable heightwise of the last, and cam means operated by said last-named members for thus swinging said clamp members.

10. In a lasting machine, the combination with a flexible band for embracing and clamping an upper about an end of a last, of members for clamping said band againstv the upper at the opposite sides of the last,rods arranged to extend heightwise of the last and mounted for turning movements to move said clamp members widthwise of the last into their clamping positions, operating members movable heightwise of the last, and pin-and-slot connections between the rods and said operating members for thus turning the rods.

11. In a lasting machine, the combination with v a flexible band for embracing and clamping an upper about an end of a last, of members for clamping said band against the upper at the opposite sides of the last, rods mounted for turning movements to apply said clamping members in clamping relation to the band, said rods having cam slots therein, and members for thus turning said rods by engaging them in said cam slots and for then locking them against reverse turning movements by such engagement.

WILLIAM THOMAS BUCKINGHAM ROBERTS. 

